Machine for manufacturing fences



4 Shets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

v o. A. N'ORLING.

MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING FENCES. No. 321,047. Patented June 30, 1885.

(No Model.) I 4Sheets-Sheet 2.

. G. A. NORLING.

MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING FENCES.

Pate nted June 30, '1885.

No. 321,047. I

151 van to: '1 4% Attes-t;

. mar/e; H E/r/ey J, 240m (No Model.) 4 sheetssheet 3 C. A. NORLING.

MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING-FENCES. No. 321,047. Patented June 30. 1885- 2/ a a -;Z5; I l i= I PL if H i L 0 23 i .27 m E. I I: Z/

Ever; ar;

(No Model.) 4 She etS-Sheet 4.

'0. A. NORLINGI. V

MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING FENCES.

No. 321,047. Patented June 30, 1885.

N. PETERS. Pholo-LRhegnph-r, Wfluhlngton, D. C.

UNrTEn STAT S PATENT Gaines.

CHARLES ALFRED NORLING, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR OF TW'O- THIRDS TO FREDERICK W. E. BEST, OF SAME PLACE, AND \VILLIAM D. VAN BLARCOM, OF ALTON, ILLINOIS.

MACHINE FOR'MANUFACTURING FENCES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 321,047, dated June 30, 1885. Application filed August 19, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES ALFRED NOR- LING, of St. Louis, Missouri, have made a new and useful Improvement in Machines for Man ufacturing Fences, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference be ing had to the annexed drawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a top viewof the improved machine; Fig. 2, a view in perspective, showing a section of the fence manufactured upon the machine; Fig. 3, a side view of the machine, the parts being as when the pitmen and the parts therewith connected are thrust forward;

I 5 Fig. 4, a view similar to that of Fig- 3, but showing the pitmen, &c., drawn backward; Fig. 5, a vertical section upon an enlarged scale of one of the twisters; Fig. 6, a crosssection on the line 6 6 of Fig. 5; Fig. 7, a

View in perspective of one of the cams used I in moving the twisters forward and backward; Fig. 8, another view in perspective of. the

cam; Fig. 9, a side elevation of that portion of the reel-rotating mechanismwhich is immediately connected with the reel, (the reel is in section;) Fig. 10, a side elevation showing the dog in engagement with the rack-lever used in operating the reel; Fig. 11, a vertical section on the line 11 11 of Fig. 1; Fig.

0 12, a top View of the gear used in shifting the twisters; Fig. 13, another top view of the shifting gear, the clutch being shown in engagement with one of the bevel-gears; Fig. 14, a side View of one of the cam parts; Fig.

15, an edge view of said cam part; Fig. 16, a side View of the central one of the cam parts or rear end of the pitman; Fig. 17, an edge view of the last-named part; Figs. 18, 19, 20, variousviews of the third one of the cam to-parts; Fig. 21, a side elevation showing the cam as upon the back stroke; Fig. 22, a top view of the parts of Fig. 21; Fig. 23, a top view of the reel, and Fig. 24 a side elevation.

of the cam as upon the forward stroke.

The same letters of reference denote the same parts.

The present invention is an improvement in that class of machines which are used in making a fence composed of palings strung upon wires, such as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings.

The improvement relates to the twisters, their operation, and the means for operating them; to the means for holding and adjusting the palings during the application of the wires thereto; to the means for compressing the wires upon the palings, and to the reel and the means for operating it.

A, Figs. 1, 3, 4, 5, 12, 13, represents the driving-shaft of the machine. It turns in the bearings a a, Figs. 1, 12, of the frame B, and is provided with the pinion A. This pinion engages with and drives the gear 0 and counter-shaft D, to which the gear 0 is fastened. The driving-shaft, as seen in Figs. 5, 12, also drives the gearing that operates the twister 6 mechanism.

E E, Figs. 12,13, represent two bevel-gears loose upon the driving-shaft, and E represents ;a clutch adapted to rotate with the drivingshaft andto he slipped thereon so as to be put in engagement with either one of the bevelgears E E, as indicated in Fig. 13, or with neither one of them, as shown in Fig. 12. When the clutch is in engagement with one of the bevel-gears, as with the bevel-gear E, Fig. 13, that bevel-gear rotates with the drivingshaft and drives the bevel-gear F upon the shaft F accordingly. When the clutch is shifted to engage with the opposite bevel-gear E, the bevel-gear F and shaft F are rotated in the opposite direction. The shaft F turns in the bearings. f f in the frame B, and is provided with the gear F Figs. 5, 12, which engages with and drives the gear G, Figs. 1, 3, 4, 5, above the gear F The gear G is fastened to the shaft G, Figs. 1, 5. This shaft G is the central one of a series of shafts, G G G G G the series in number corresponding to the number of lines of wires used in the fence being made. The shafts G G, &c., each turn in bearings g g in the frame B, and they are each provided with a gear, H, formingatrain of gears, H H, &c., which is driven by the central gear, H, which is attached to the shaft G.

Upon each of the shafts G, &c., is' what is termed the twister I. This part consists of a tubular head, 2', which is fitted to and is adapted to be slipped longitudinally upon the shaft, and a pair of arms, ii,which open apart .[OO

. gear H and the shaft G.

from each other and extend from the head forward and pass through the gear H belonging to the shaft. The rotation of the gear H, therefore, causes the twister to rotate with the A sleeve, J, having tubular passages or grooves j j, encircles the shaft G within its bearings. The wires K K, Fig. 5, forming the line of wires for the twister,

- pass, as indicated by the broken lines, through a perforated flange, 9, upon the shaft G, and thence through the grooves j j, (the gear G also being perforated to admit the wires.) and thence through grooves i a? in the arms t" i.

The counter-shaft D serves to operate the mechanism by which the twisters are slipped forward and backward upon their respective shafts; to operate the mechanism for shifting the clutch upon the driving-shaft; to operate the mechanism that feeds the palings from the twisters to the compressors; to operate the compressors, and to operate the reeling mechanism. To slip the twisters the countershaft is provided with the cams L L, Figs. 1, 5, 7, 8, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24. The cams are arranged upon the countershaft toward the ends, respectively, thereof. Each of them is composed of two parts, ll, which are fastened to the counter-shaft upon opposite sides of a pitman, L, which is slotted at Z to admit the counter-shaft and to be .moved (forward and backward in the machine) thereon. One, l, of the cam parts is adapted to operate in connection with a flange, Z upon the pitman, and the other, l, of the cam parts, is adapted to operate in connection with a lug, Z, Figs. 8, 16, 17, upon the pitman, the cam part Z having a lug, Zflwhich encounters the lug Z on the pitman. The pitmen at their forward ends are attached to a cross-plate, L, Figs. 1, 5,which in turn and by means of the uprights L is'connected with the twisters. The cam parts Z 1 then, as the counter-shaft rotates, operate to move the pitman, cross plate, uprights, and twisters forward and backward, as indicatedby the two positions shown, respectively, in Figs. 3 and 4, and the movement in question is sharply performed by reason of the peculiar shapes of the cam parts Z l and the rear end of the pitman L.

To operate the twister-shifting mechanism, the counter-shaft is provided with a sprocketwheel, M, Figs. 1, 12,13. A chain, M, leads thence around a cam-wheel, M, upon the driving-shaft. This cam-wheel in its face has a groove, on m m m shaped and extended as shown in Figs. 12, 13, the parts m m being on opposite sides of the cam-wheel and in the center of the face of the cam-wheel and the parts m m being on opposite sides of the camwheel, and being, respectively, toward opposite edges of the cam-wheel face.

The cam-wheel is designed to operate in connection with the clutch-shifter M This lastnamed partis pivoted at m to the frame B, is attached to the clutch E andis provided with a projection, m which engages in the groove of the cam-wheel, whose rotation, by

means of the chain M, (the cam-wheel being loose upon the driving shaft,) causes the clutch-shifter to be turned on its pivot, and the clutch to he slipped on the driving-shaft and to be thrown into engagement alternately with the bevel-gears E and E as the parts m m of the cam-wheel groove come alternately into engagement with the projection m and to be held between the bevel-gears as the parts an m come into engagement with the projection. One, E, of the bevel-gears E E is provided with a lug, e,which,when the clutch is held between the bevelgears, comes between a pair of projections, m, upon the clutch-shifter. This serves to hold the bevelgears E E from rotating and the twisters from untwisting, which is liable to occur by reason of the reactive force exerted by the twisted wires in front of the twister.

To operate the paling-feeding mechanism, the counter-shaft is provided with the cranks N N. These cranks operate the pitmen N N, and they in turn are attached to and move the slides N and the cross-slide N forward and backward in the machine upon the slides n n, the two positions being represented in Figs. 3 and 4, respectively. The palings O are laid successively upon the lower arms of the twisters in the position shown in Fig. 4. The crossslide N is provided with uprights N', which are then in rear of the paling. The crossslide N is then moved toward the forward end of the machine, and in its movement the uprights N encounter the paling and cause it to be slipped from off the twisters and onto the lower ones of the wires K K, and then to be slipped upon the wires between the compressors P P, Figs. 1, 3, 4, 11. The upper compressors, P, are attached to the cross-bar P and the lower compressors are attached to the cross-bar P and the bars P P are pivoted, respectively, at p p to the frame B. The pitmen N are pivoted to blocks N, which move upon the slides n n, and which in their forward movement, and by means of a pin, a, upon the blocks, encounter an arm, 0, with which the upper compressor, P, is provided. This causes the upper compressor to close, and the upper compressor in turn, and by means of thenotched lug p with which itis provided engaging with a pin, 1), upon the lower compressor, the lower compressor is closed. The closing of the compressors operates to compress the two wires K K upon the paling, so that the wires are bent together closely against the rear edge of the paling, as indicated in Fig 3. This causes the wires, when twisted in rear of the paling, to bind tightly around the paling. As the pitmen N are drawn backward the compressors open automatically and are ready to receive another paling.

The object of moving the twisters reciprocall y forward and backward is, by moving forward to spread the wires at the time the feeders have moved the forward edge of the paling against and in front of the crotch in the twisted wires, and by moving back to draw the wires together 'again upon thepaling whilew the paling is beingmoved forward. After'the paling enters the compressors and the compressors'clamp the wires upon the paling, the twister-arms commence twisting, During the twisting the pitmen and the palingfeederbeman, meaning the left-hand one, as shown in Fig. 1, goes forward, theforward end of its block N encounters ablock, q, upon the slide a. The block q is connected with the jointed pitman Q of the reel mechanism, and the finished fence is reeled forward and the wires are drawn through the twisters. As the paling goes forward in the machine neither bevelgear E E of thetwister-shifter mechanism is in gear. AS the pitman and paling-feeder return one of the bevel-gears is thrown into engagement with the clutch and the twisting recommences. One-half of the time the twister-gears are in gear with the clutch E, but alternately with the gears on opposite sides of the clutch. The wires between the palings are therefore alternately twisted in opposite directions.

The pitman Q, Figs. 1, 3. 4, 9, 10, is connected with the reel R as follows: S represents a lever pivoted at its lower end to the frame. The lever is slotted at s and on both sides has a ratchet, 3 8 The pitman at q is pivoted to a dog, T, Figs. 9,10. This dog in turn is pivoted at t to a holder, t, which is adapted to slide upward and downward upon the lever. When the pitman Q is thrust forward, as in Fig. 3, the dog T is turned at its pivot and made to engage with the ratchet s. This causes the lever to be thrown forward, and, by reason of a pawl upon the pitman Q engaging in a ratchet, 1, upon the reel, the reel R is rotated in its bearings r r, and the completedfence, carried from the-compressors,is wound upon the reel. When the pitman Q is drawn backward, the dog T is disengaged from the ratchet s and turned on. the pivot t and brought into engagement with the opposite ratchet s", whereupon the lever S is turned backward into the position shown in Fig. 4, and the operation is repeated. The dog T is pivoted with an extension, t which extends downward and inward, as shown in Figs. 1, 9, 10. Its function is to cause the dog-holder t to be slipped upward upon the lever S as the coil of fencing upon the reel increases in diameter. The extension t rides upon the coil and causes the holder 25 to belifted as the dog T is swinging between the two ratchets s 5. Thus the reel is made to rotate more and more slowly as the coil increases in size.

To prevent the pitman Q from being accidentally broken by reason of any of the parts of the mechanism last above described becoming caught, the pitman Q is jointed at f. This enables the pitman to fold, as shown in Fig. 3, and the strain thereupon to be relieved.

To enable the coil of fencing to be withdrawn from the reel,the latter is made collapsible. The reel-bars r r are attached to heads r r upon the reel-shaft-W, the reel-bars having pins 1* engaging in inclined slots 1 in the heads '1' 7'. By drawing one of the heads outward on the reel-shaft the pins 0- are drawn inward in the slots r and the reel-bars,in consequence, closed toward the reel-axle, and the coil-can then he slipped from the reel-bars.

- It will be noticed that the fence, as it is being made, is sustained in the machine by means of the twisters and the compressors; that after being made it passes between the compressor-bars 1? P and that, after passing the compressors, it is sustained by the compressors and reel.

I clain1- 1. The combination, substantially as described, of the frame B, the shafts A F G, the clutch E the gears E EFFG H, and the twister I.

2. The combination, substantially as described, of the frame B, the shafts A F G G the clutch E the gears E E F F G, the train H H, and the twisters I I.

3. The combination, substantially as described, of the shafts D G, the cams L L, the pitmen L L, the cross-bar L, the uprights L L and the twisters I I.

4. The combination of the shaft G, the gear H, and the twister I, said twister being adapted to be slipped forward and backward through said gear, as described.

5. In a machine for manufacturing fences, the twisters I, said twisters being constructed as described, and being adapted to be moved forward and backward in the machine, as and for the purpose described.

6. The combination, substantially as described, of the train H H H, the twisters I I I, and the shafts G G G, said twisters being loose upon said shafts and their arms t" 2" projecting through said gears, for the purpose set forth.

' 7. The combination of the shaft D, the cam parts Z Z, the slotted pitman L, the cross-plate L, the uprights L and the twister I, substantially as described.

8. The combination of the shafts A D F G G, the clutch E the gears E E F F G, the train H H, the cams L L, the pitmen L L, and the twisters I I, substantially as described.

-9. The combination of the shafts A D F G, the sprocket-wheel M, the chain M,the grooved cam-wheel M the clutch E the shifter M the gears E E F F G, and'the twister I, substantially as described.

10. The combination of the shafts A F G, the shifter M the clutch E the gears E E F F G H, and the twister I, substantially as described.

11. The combination of thetwisters I, the compressors P P, and a feeder for transferring the paling from the twisters to the compress ors, substantially as described.

12. The compressorsP P, adapted to compress the wires upon the paling, as and for the purpose described.

13. The combination of the ways n n, the slides N, the compressor P, having the arm p and the notched lug p and the'compressor P, having the scribed.

14. The combination of the cross-bars P and P, carrying, respectively, the compressors P and P, and adapted to rock in the bearings 13 and p, respectively,substantially as described.

15. The combination of the compressors P P and the vtwisters I, substantially as described.

16. The combination of the compressors P Pand the twisters I, said twisters-being constructed and arranged to be capable of receiving a forward and backward movement in the machine as well as a rotary motion, substantially as described.

17. The combination of the compressors P P and the reel R, substantially as described.

18. The combination of the twisters I, the compressors P P, and the reel'R, substantially as described.

pin p, substantially as de- 19. The combination of the way n, the slide N, the block q, the pitman Q, the lever S, carrying a pawl, and the reel R, carrying a ratchet,'r, substantially as described.

20. The combination of the pitman Q,- the lever S, having the double rack s s, the dog T, and the holder t, having the rider t substantially as described.

21. The combination of the reel R, the lever S, having the double rack s s? the dog T, the holder t, having the rider t and the pitman Q. substantiallyas described.

22. The combination of the slide N, the block q, the pitman Q, jointed at q", the arm S, the pawl on said arm, and the reel R, substantially as described.

23. The collapsible reel P, consisting of the shaft T the heads r r, having the slots r, and the bars 1, having the pins r, substantially as described.

Witness my hand this 12th August, 1881.

CHARLES ALFRED NORLING.

Witnesses O. D. MOODY, J. W. HoKE. 

